the Great Battle
Up and down the beach thousands of dog demon warriors prepare for battle. Despite their vast numbers, the men are oddly quiet, each absorbed with his own thoughts.
One warrior prays with eyes closed, mumbling the words, kneeling in the sand. A second man inspects each arrowhead in his quiver. A third sits in the sand, snapping seashells.
Inuyasha sits cross-legged, arms held straight out in front of him, palms up. His sword is balanced on his palms. shippo and Eudorus, armoured for battle, enter the tent. inuyasha does not look away from his blade. Though the sword must be heavy, his arms do not tremble.
"My lord? The army is marching."
"Let them march. We stay."
"But the men"
inuyasha turns to glare at him and Eudorus falters.
"the men are ready"
"the dog king spat on my honour yesterday. I promised that girl her safety and he stole her from me. Let him fight the wolves today. Eudorus and shippo exchange glances. Eudorus bows to inuyasha and exits the tent. shippo remains behind.
"When I was very small I saw my father kill a man with his bare hands." shippo doesn't know how to respond.
"There's so much blood in a human body." inuyasha flips the sword in the air and catches it by the hilt. He examines the edge.
"You're ready to fight, shippo?"
"I am"
inuyasha rests his sword on the ground. He stares at shippo for a moment before speaking.
"You're ready to kill?" shippo hesitates.
"At night I see their faces. All the men I've killed. I see them standing on the far bank of the River Styx. They're waiting for me." shippo stands absolutely still. He's never heard his cousin speak this way before.
"Some nights I walk among them. When I wake I can still hear their words. They say, "Welcome, brother."" inuyasha inspects the knuckles of his fist.
"Never hate the men you fight. All of us are mortals. All of us, wretched things, tumbled crying from our mother's loins. Only the gods are free from sorrows."
"I hate no one, cousin."
"Good. I taught you how to fight. But I never taught you why to fight."
"I fight for you"
"And who will you follow when I'm gone?"
shippo hesitates, unsure how to answer.
"Most soldiers battle for kings they've never met. They do what they're told; they die when they're told to die."
"Soldiers obey" shippo said.
"We don't have much time to walk in the sun, shippo. After this life comes the underworld, an eternity telling stories to other shades. Don't tell them you died following some fool's orders."
"And what should I tell them?"
"Tell them your name. If your life has been worthy, they'll know the rest."
One thousand archers stand in various positions on the broad city walls, quivers of arrows by their sides. Wolf citizens also crowd atop the walls, quiet and sober. Priam sits in a grandstand beneath a blue canopy. Seated by him are city leaders, including Velius and Archeptolemus. Sango stands apart from everyone else. No one is overtly hostile to her, but behind her back people stare and whisper.
"Below the walls, on the broad field that stretches down from the city gates, the wolf army has amassed. In the front, koga and General Glaucus sit astride their horses. The soldiers are disciplined and well-outfitted, arranged in tight formation. Miroku rides out to join koga. koga examines miroku's face.
"are you sure you want to do this?"
"I started this war." miroku searches the faces atop the city wall. He finds sango. The wind is blowing hard, ruffling her cloak, her hair. There is love in her eyes, and fear and exhaustion. miroku stares up at her for a long time before turning away. A low, ominous rumble grows steadily louder. koga hears it first. He looks down the vast sloping field toward the sea. Now the other soldiers hear it, and then the citizens atop the walls. All speech ceases. The wolves quietly wait. The rumbling resolves into the steady beat of war drums.
And now we see them, fifty thousand dog demons. The reflection of sunlight off fifty thousand bronze shields, fifty thousand bronze helmets and chest plates, is spectacular the army looks like a river of lava, flowing uphill.
The wolf soldiers don't quiver or waver, but the expressions on their faces betray their anxiety. The dog demon army is more than twice the size of the wolf army.
The citizens shield their eyes from the brightness. They exhibit their nervousness more openly than the soldiers. One old woman moans softly, her hand over her mouth.
Shippo, Eudorus, and the rest of the Myrmidons climb to the top of a tall bluff near the beach. From here they can see the broad battlefield a mile away.
The dog demon army halts just beyond arrow range. A delegation of kings the dog king, Nestor, Menelaus, shessomaru, and Ajax on chariots proceeds to the center of the battlefield. shessomaru looks over his shoulder and then yells to Ajax.
"Where's inuyasha? Ajax looks around and shrugs."
"naraku is a bull. He'll charge you. miroku nods."
"He's stronger than you, so try not to fight him up close. Keep your distance. Use your quickness." miroku leans over and tries to spit, but his mouth is too dry.
"Brother?" Miroku, his face ashen, looks at koga.
"you don't have to do this."
"miroku shakes his head and continues riding toward naraku."
"sango, alone, views the battlefield. An old, spotted hand takes her elbow. She turns and looks into Priam's eyes."
"Sit with me." sango follows the king to his grandstand and sits beside him. She's aware of people staring at them but he seems oblivious.
"All my life I've prayed against this day."
"yes, my king"
"Call me father, dear child." Startled by this affection, she hesitates before responding..
"Forgive me, father. For…" She pauses, staring out at the vast dog demon army.
"...bringing this." Priam shakes his head and smiles sadly.
"I blame you for nothing. Everything is in the hands of the gods. Besides, how could I blame anyone for falling in love with miroku?" sango looks out at the battlefield, fixing on miroku, at this distance a tiny figure on horseback. Priam takes her hand.
koga and miroku ride up to the dog kings. naraku stares at miroku, his fingers tapping the hilt of his sword. miroku does not make eye contact. The kings step down from their chariots and the wolf princes dismount from their horses. Both armies are lined up several hundred yards apart. The dog king surveys the wolf army.
"I see you're not hiding behind your high walls. Valiant of you. Ill advised, but valiant."
"You come here uninvited. Go back to your ships. Go home."
"We've come too far, Prince koga"
"Prince? These are not princes. What son of a king would accept a man's hospitality, eat his food, drink his wine, and then steal his wife in the middle of the night?" the dog king said.
"The sun was shining when your wife left you.narakudraws his sword. He points it at the city walls." miroku pointed out.
"She's up there watching, isn't she? Good. I want her to watch you die."the dog kingplaces a hand on his brother's arm.
"Not yet, brother." He makes a sweeping gesture, indicating his entire army.
"Look around you, koga. I've brought all the warriors of the dog demons to your shores."
"You can still save your country, young prince."
"I have two wishes. If you grant them, no more of your people need to die. First, give sango back to my brother. Second, your tribe must submit to my command, to fight for me whenever I call."
"You want me to look upon your army and tremble. Well, I see them. I see fifty thousand men brought here to fight for one man's greed."
"Be careful, boy. My mercy has limits."
"I've seen the limits of your mercy. And I tell you now that no son of the wolf tribe will ever submit to a foreign ruler."
"then every song of the wolf tribe shall die"
"There is another way."
Everyone watches miroku now.
"I love sango. I won't give her up. And neither will you. So let's fight our own battle. Let the winner take sango home, and that will be the end of it."
"A brave offer. But not enough. naraku pulls the dog king aside and speaks to him out of the others' earshot.
"Let me kill this little peacock."
"I didn't come here for your pretty wife. I came for your country."
"And I came for my honour. His every breath insults me. Let me kill him. When he's lying in the dust, give the signal to attack. I'll have my revenge and you'll have your city" The dog king ponders the offer. He nods. They rejoin the others.
"I accept your challenge. And tonight I'll drink to your bones."
miroku walks over to his chariot and grabs his shield. koga helps miroku into his helmet and speaks quietly to him.
"He doesn't have the stamina he once did. Make him swing and miss. He'll tire." miroku nods. He turns towardnaraku but quickly turns back and grabs koga's arm.
"koga!" koga waits. miroku opens his mouth but no words come out. He tries again.
"If I fall…tell sango…tell her…"
"I will"
"Don't let the dog king hurt her. Make him swear …"
"Think about your sword and his sword. Nothing else"
koga hugs him close for a moment and releases him. miroku walks toward the center of the field, where naraku waits.
It's difficult to see from inside your bronze helmet. Your peripheral vision is severely restricted, and the nose guard bisects your vision. Your breathing sounds amplified, impossibly loud and half- panicked. But there's no turning back. naraku stands in the center of the vast battlefield, patient and menacing, carving the air with lazy strokes of his sword. You look back and see koga. koga nods, trying to encourage you, but he looks worried. Behind koga is the wolf army, twenty-five thousand silent wolves. Behind the army is your city Atop those walls, beneath that blue canopy, your father is watching, and the woman you love. You turn back to naraku. He's smiling at you.
naraku charges at miroku and swings mightily, trying to knock the prince's head from his shoulders. miroku manages to duck beneath the flashing blade. Naraku fights with little art and great savagery, exploiting his superior strength. but miroku is quicker. He nearly surprises the bigger man with a fast sword thrust, but naraku dominates the fight, hammering miroku's shield with a furious barrage of blows. miroku steps away and tries another thrust, but this time naraku sidesteps and smashes miroku in the jaw with the hilt of his sword, knocking the prince's helmet off. miroku falls, blood leaking from his nose and mouth. koga, frustrated and powerless to help, tries to will his brother to victory.
"get up. Get up" koga said under his breath.
Ajax and shessomaru, standing together, watch the bloodied prince. Ajax looks disgusted, shessomaru amused.
"This is the prince of the wolves? In Salamis, the women fight better" Ajax said
"But they're not as pretty" shessomaru said
sango, unable to sit, now stands at the wall, watching her lover battle her husband. Priam stands beside her.
shippo and the other Myrmidons watch the battle.
"naraku still knows how to fight."eudorus said.
naraku swings at the fallen prince but miroku is able to block the blow with his shield and scramble to his feet. Naraku points to the sky. Three crows circle above.
You see the crows? They've never tasted a prince before. The dogs mind games are working miroku wears the face of a man who doesn't want to fight. He swings clumsily and naraku manages to catch his wrist. The demon grins and raises his sword for the kill. miroku lashes out with his free hand, punching the demon hard in the jaw. Naraku grunts and shoves the boy away. He spits out a tooth. He's no longer smiling.
Shessomaru and Ajax exchange a quick look not bad.
But naraku bores in again, blow after blow. Finally his blade bites into miroku's thigh. miroku staggers backward, blood flowing down his leg. He swings desperately but naraku parries, knocking the sword from miroku's hand. Miroku stares at his fallen sword, five feet away. And runs. Naraku snarls at his movement and chases after him.
The citizens seem shocked that their prince and hero would flee before a demon assailant. They look at each other and whisper, glancing at Priam, curious to see his reaction.
"Fight him, son. Fight him."
sango stares at the battlefield, her face unreadable.
miroku runs to koga, gasping for breath, the blood pouring down his face and leg. He falls to his knees before his older brother. Koga stares at miroku and then at naraku, who has stopped seven feet from the princes.
"Fight me, you coward! Fight me!" miroku, unable to look at either man or speak, trembles by his brother's side. koga, completely at a loss, lays his hand on miroku's head.
"We have a pact. Fight!"
the dog demon signals for the driver of his chariot.
"The wolves have violated the agreement. We march"
The driver nods. The dog king hops onto the chariot and they ride toward the army to deliver the orders.
koga looks from his brother to the enraged naraku.
This is not honour. This is not worthy of royalty. Koga looks at his brother but miroku is not looking at anybody. He gasps for breath, the blood streaming from his wounds. Koga glances at the dog demon army, then back to miroku.
"If he doesn't fight, your country is doomed."
"miroku." miroku shakes his head, blood dripping from his nose.
"no..no"
"The fight is over." koga said to naraku
"The fight is not over. Stand back, Prince koga." koga stares at the king, judging his intentions.
"I'll kill him at your feet. I don't care."
"He's my brother." naraku charges, sword raised overhead. In one motion koga draws his own sword and plunges the point through naraku's breastplate. Naraku's momentum carries him forward, until his breastplate touches the hilt of koga's sword.
Naraku's, eyes wide open, stares down at the blood which now begins rushing down his armour. He looks up at koga. koga pulls his blade out. And naraku falls to the ground.
The dog king standing on his chariot in front of his army, sees his brother fall. For a moment the vast field is silent. The dog king shouts . A wordless cry of rage, echoing from the dog demon lines to the walls of the wolfs. He points towards koga. The entire dog demon army surges forward. Hollering with a collective violence powerful enough to make the ground tremble, fifty thousand soldiers charge at koga.
koga sees them coming. The ground he stands on trembles with the concussive force of the demons feet and horses' hooves.
"Miroku." miroku still seems to be in a state of shock.
"Get up! Get up." The avalanche of demon infantry is getting closer. Miroku finally gets to his feet but runs in the wrong direction, toward the demons.
"Miroku!" What seems to be a sprint to suicide turns out to be something different, miroku grabs the fallen sword of the wolves from the ground, dangerously close to the charging demons. He turns and dashes back to koga. The princes mount.
The dog demons are almost upon them. Brandishing their spears and screaming their war cries, all of them vie for the glory of felling the wolf princes. The closest dog demons launch their spears. One whistles by koga's ear. He spurs his horse. The princes gallop toward the city.
Shessomaru watches this chase with trepidation.
"our men are to close to the walls."
Glaucus the wolf general, sees that the princes have gained some distance from their pursuers. He calls to an officer standing on the city wall.
"archers!" glacus yelled.
shippo turns and sees inuyasha, standing on a high rock behind the other Myrmidons. and doesn't know how long inuyasha has been watching the battle.
"pull back you fool"
The dog demon army continues to charge at full speed. One thousand wolf archers notch their arrows and pull back their catgut strings.
"Now!" One thousand arrows soar into the air, a deadly swarm of hornets that rises toward the clouds before descending on the charging dog demons.
Hundreds of dog demons fall. The wolf archers let loose another swarm of arrows. The arrows fall with a great hiss. Many find their mark, biting into the throats and faces of the dog demons. The dogs army, so overwhelming seconds ago, is now struck with chaos. The men in the front turn back, realizing they've become targets, while the men in back still push forward. In this confusion of foot traffic the arrows continue to fall, a rainstorm of bronze. The dog king, standing on his chariot in the middle of his frenzied troops, tries to maintain order, but his shouts go unheard above the general roar. The driver of his chariot falls, an arrow through his neck. The dog king grabs the reins and tries to steer the chariot, but so many men are running about, so many bodies litter the ground, that maneuvering is extremely difficult.
Koga and miroku have reached the city walls, where Glaucus and the army wait for them. koga grabs miroku's arm.
"Get inside the city." He slaps miroku's horse. Miroku's, head bowed, rides away. koga turns to his army. He shouts to them at the top of his lungs.
The commander of the dog demon's wants the wolf army to fight for him! The wolf mood becomes more and more bellicose
"Would any man here like to fight for the dog king?"
"NO!" the wolf demons yell.
koga raises his sword and points it at the dog demons, who retreat from the arrow fusillade in disarray.
"for THE WOLVES!"
"FOR THE WOLVES!" all the warrories yell and run into battle
The wolves charge. koga, on horseback, reaches the dog demons first. His sword cuts down everyone within reach. The wolves infantry attacks the dog demons, whose line has been broken by the rain of arrows. The wolves take advantage of their enemies' panic. Koga's plan has succeeded.
inuyasha is unable to stand still. His fingers twitch as he watches the battle; he paces back and forth and curses. shippo and the Myrmidons avoid looking at their leader.
"Get them in line... get them in line…"
shessomaru, meanwhile, works to reorganize the troops.
"Selepius! Bring your men back into line!" Ajax, standing nearby, sees koga chopping his way through the demons. Ajax runs at koga. Two wolf soldiers try to intercept Ajax. The mighty dog demon swings his huge battle axe. The blade cuts clean through the first soldier's arm and halfway through his torso. The second soldier hacks at Ajax but the big man blocks the sword with his shield and then uses the shield to ram the soldier's face. Blood sprays from the wolves crushed skull. Both soldiers fall dead to the ground. koga, battling a dog demon Infantryman, doesn't see Ajax coming. Ajax grabs koga's horse's bridle and tugs hard, the veins in his arms bulging beneath the skin.
The horse tries to buck but Ajax twists the horse's head till it falls. koga falls with the horse, tumbling to the dirt. The demon infantryman he had been fighting stabs at him.
koga rolls away and manages while flat on his back to swing his sword, chopping off the infantryman's feet just above the ankles. The infantryman screams and falls. Ajax releases the horse, raises his axe, and swings at the fallen koga. The prince gets his shield up just in time. Ajax's axe cleaves through the shield, splitting the bronze into two even halves. Koga stares at the halved shield, discards it, and jumps to his feet. The two fighters circle each other while thousands of soldiers around them battle to the death.
"So you're the best of the wolves?" koga, looking for an opening in the brute's defenses, says nothing. Ajax charges, swinging his battle axe. koga ducks below the axe and lunges forward with his sword, but Ajax quick despite his size sidesteps, grabs the smaller man in a bear hug and squeezes. koga turns red. The sword falls from koga's hand. Ajax grins. koga slams his helmeted head forward, butting Ajax in the face. Ajax staggers back, blood spraying from his nose, his axe falling to the ground. Koga struggles to regain his equilibrium. Ajax growls and launches himself at the prince. koga snatches a spear off the ground and positions it just as Ajax dives at him. The spear pierces Ajax's armor, driving through his belly and out his back. koga holds the shaft steady. Ajax stares down at his wound. He seems more irritated than anything else. Ajax places his two big hands on the spear shaft, right where the spear enters his body. He breaks the spear in two, snapping the solid wood like a twig. Half a spear still sticking out his back, Ajax swings the shaft, clobbering koga in the side of the head, sending the horsehair-plumed helmet flying.
koga, dazed, falls to one knee. Ajax whacks him again on the back of his neck. koga crawls forward blindly. His hands brush over the blade of his dropped sword. koga springs up, driving his sword into Ajax's gut, just below the big man's breast plate. koga withdraws his sword. Both men see the ground drenched with Ajax's blood. Ajax backhands koga with the broken spear shaft, cracking the prince in the jaw and dropping him again. Ajax grabs koga, hoists him upright and begins throttling the prince. Ajax spits a great wad of blood and smiles, teeth washed red. koga tries to kick at Ajax, but Ajax's thumbs dig deeper and deeper into koga's throat. Koga's eyelids begin to flutter as he chokes. But the king has lost too much blood. He sinks slowly to his knees. koga is forced to his knees as well. Finally Ajax's eyes roll back. He topples onto koga, hands still locked on the prince's throat. koga undoes the death grip. He squirms out from under Ajax's corpse and stands.
Shippo and the Myrmidons watch Ajax fall with disbelief. inuyasha cannot bear to watch any longer. He walks away. None of his men dare look at him.
The wolves are routing the dog demons. With two of their kings already fallen, the dog demons force is in disarray. shessomaru sees the dog king speeding by on his chariot. and shessomaru runs and manages to leap onto the chariot. The two kings shout at each other above the commotion of battle.
"We need to retreat!" The dog king surveys the battlefield and his battered forces.
"My army has never lost a battle."
"If we don't fall back you won't have an army!" The dog king seems dazed by the turn of events. Finally shessomaru hollers to whichever captains can hear his voice.
"Back to the ships! Back to the ships!" The captains take up this cry, shouting orders to their men. The dogs retreat. The wolf soldiers give a mighty shout as they pursue their enemies.
The people cheer. Nobles and commoners embrace as brothers.
koga, still on foot, leads his men as they chase down the fleeing dog demon's. Several thousand dog demons have fallen.
The dog demons get back to their trenches, the bulk of the force still intact. archers in the dog demons rear guard, manning the trenches, now raise their bows and prepare to fire. koga, eager to avoid the mistakes his dog demon counterparts made earlier, holds up his hands and bellows to the troops.
"Halt!" The wolf army stops just outside the dog demons archers' range. Lysander, the wolf captain, stands beside koga.
"we have them on the run, my prince"
"We're almost in range of their archers. You saw what our arrows did to them. Have the men gather our fallen. When they're done, send an emissary to the dog demons. They can collect their dead without fear of assault"
"Would they have done the same for us?"
"Of course not. That's why our country is worth defending." koga turns and heads back to the white city.
Thousands of bodies litter the broad field., their bronze armor gleaming in the failing sunlight. The living haul the dead from the battlefield. horses are used to pull wagonloads of bodies. Fathers or sons or brothers or friends say their goodbyes and wash the dead men with washcloths and buckets of water. The sun sinks into the ocean. Both sides build funeral pyres for their fallen. When a body is loaded onto the pyre, a relative or friend places two coins on the dead man's eyes. Dozens of dog demons view Ajax's body. They weep as they pass by, each man kneeling to kiss their fallen king's hand.
The dog king stands before the body of naraku.
He places two coins on naraku's eyes. He steps down from the pyre, accepts a torch from a captain, and sets the pyre on fire.
"I will burn their city before I leave, brother. I promise you that. As the sky grows dark, the dead burn on the beach and inside the walls of the wolves.
ok this chapter is really long so be happy! haha will you guys love me for this? i hope so ...thank you everyone for the reviews i really appreciate them all. see you soon!