Chapter Three

Kagome screamed again, just for good measure. The dead woman, the woman that possessed Kagomes' face, came towards her. Kagome scrambled to her feet, wishing she had paid more attention in psychology; what did it mean when she saw herself dead and than coming back to life? Whatever the case was, Kagome felt that she surely would have issues after this.

"What sort of demon are you that you wear my face? Has your master not tormented me enough?" the apparition of herself asked, in a voice that thankfully, was not her own. It was lower, older, melancholy; it was a voice that held the weight of much bitterness and betrayal. With a shock, Kagome realized she had heard the voice before; it was the exact voice she had imagined the priestess in the story would have.

Kagome glanced around the dark woods frantically, fully expecting a demon lord and a swordswoman appear out of thin air. This was thankfully not the case, so she turned her attention to the most immediate threat.

The woman in front of her had stopped her approach, gazing at her critically, as a scientist would look at a promising specimen. Her sharp eyes unnerved Kagome. It didn't help that Kagome kept having this unsettling urge to trust her implicitly.

It was a very strange feeling; Kagome didn't trust anyone but herself; because, eventually, they always let her down. She wondered if the miko was using her strange priestess-y powers on her. Yes that was it, she was trying to lull her into a false sense of security before sprouting fangs and eating her entrails.

Kagome was jolted out of this train of thought as the priestess; apparently tired of waiting for her to answer, spoke again.

"You act guiltily, yet now I can see that you are not a demon. I know that I was sealed to the tree for a very long time, for I could feel him come to taunt me. Are you perhaps a descendant of Kiaede?" the woman with Kagomes' face looked at her expectantly, patiently waiting for an answer.

Kagome meanwhile seemed to have lost the use of her larynx, and so answered instead with the ever popular monosyllable;

"huh?" the priestess frowned at her, expecting more of an answer. But then she appeared to think of something, as her brow furrowed and she looked off in another direction.

Without warning she took of running in the direction of her gaze, leaving Kagome in the dust. Kagome blinked and gave up wondering what was going on. Instead she chose to follow the woman, as she was the only person who might have any idea were 'here' was; though by the looks of her she seemed to be having enough problems as it was.

She wondered suddenly if the vision she had witnessed had been the priestesses last moments before being 'sealed', whatever that meant. If so, there was no telling how long she had been there, or if there was anything left of the village she had seen in the vision, which she felt fairly certain was were the priestess was going.

This was all guesswork on Kagomes' part, but it seemed the most likely chain of reasoning, and so she came to the conclusion that she likely had nothing to fear from the miko. It was a comforting thought.

As she moved through the trees, she realized that the pervasive tension in the air was getting stronger, it was as if she were moving through a curtain of fear now, and it was getting stronger by the stride.

By the time she drew with in sight of the tree line, she had to physically steal herself for whatever she was about to face; through the tree line she could see eerie flashes of green light. An unearthly wail rent the air, sending shivers down her spine.

She could also hear sounds of a scuffle, and, fearing the worst, she crossed the tree line into the open.

The scene that greeted her was a scene from the seventh level of hell. The charred remains of a village lay upon the earth like a smashed melon. And from the ruined shell were pouring creatures that defied description. They wore tattered clothing that hung upon them like sacks, enhancing their gruesomely skeletonic features. There faces were twisted and misshapen, eyes bulging out and teeth bared in rhictus snarls. With them they carried weaponry that looked as if it had once been farming equipment.

Then she spotted the priestess; she was fighting the demons desperately, but she had no weapon, and was being rapidly overwhelmed. It was obvious to Kagome that she needed help, badly.

Kagome remembered that in the vision the miko had used a bow. Thanking the gods that she had brought her satchel with her, she almost tore it open in her haste to find a weapon. Her hand found what she was looking for when it closed around her bow and quiver; she also drew out her katana and tucked it through her belt for herself.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her trench coat pocket glowing, and remembered with a start the ease with which her fist had punched through the centipede creatures arm, she pulled it out. Knowing that nothing could hurt at this point, she tucked the shikon jewel into her hakama, and turned; bow and quiver slung over her shoulder and sword in hand, to the overwhelming swarm of demons.

There seemed to be hundreds of them, and they were still coming. It was ridiculous to think that two lone women could defeat such a hoard, but Kagome went any way. She was not thinking logically, she knew, but then, nothing that had happened to her so far had any sort of rational explanation either.

Heavy clouds hung over the village; they were awash in the evil green glow that seemed to emanate from the center of the burned out dwellings. The effect was surreal, Kagome felt as if she was swimming through a sea of evil.

Kagome took a deep breath, preparing herself, and then so suddenly that it startled the swarming creatures, she charged, emitting a battle cry that chilled the black hearts of the demons. Many of them swung toward her frantically, expecting to see a cavalry charge of armored samurai. Sadly this was not the case; Kagome was unaided, a lone girl charging to do battle with a thousand demons.

If anyone had been watching, it would have been a thing of ballads, but the only ones watching were the demons, and one way or the other, they certainly wouldn't be writing any songs about her. Except perhaps about how good she tasted, she mused morbidly.

She hit the line of demons and drew her sword in a diagonal slash, taking four of them out in the first cut. Blood sprayed her as they fell and four more swarmed in to take their place. They too, fell as she moved forward, slashing and cutting.

They began to close around behind her as well, and she fell into the ease of motion of a whirlwind, basing her attacks on the katas she had learned so long ago.

The creatures fell with ridiculous ease, and Kagome would have walked away in disgust if she were on her own, but she was trying to help the priestess that had her face, and so she went to the task of cutting a path to the beleaguered woman.

The miko was not doing well; she seemed to be able to purify the demons with her hands, but she had to do it one at a time. Already she appeared to be suffering from severe lacerations and bruises, as well as a deep gash over her eye.

Kagome intensified her efforts to reach her, despite growing fatigue. To focus herself she counted her enemies as they fell. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen fifteen; she dodged a scythe, then ran the user through, just in time to turn and cut a demon in half as it leapt at her. Eighteen, nineteen, twenty; she pivoted on her heel and reversed her sword, running her katana through an emaciated stomach and then ripping her sword sideways, cutting through its side and slashing three more as they rushed her. Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine; she moved so fast her blade seemed to glow, suffused with a soft light. Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty; her sword was red, and blood flew even before she made her cuts, spraying the demons with their kins' blood as it flew from her katana. Forty-nine, fifty; she eviscerated one with a deep slice, and then she was at the priestesses side.

As Kagome threw her the bow and arrows, she realized that she did not even know the mikos name, and yet she was charging kamikaze style to her aid. Why was she doing it? It was suicidal, and yet she would have done the same for Souta, it was the same feeling of sisterly protection. Perhaps it was merely self preservation; the other woman did look exactly like her after all.

She was back to back with the shrine maiden now, Kagome with her sword flashing and the priestess holding the bow, but fighting only with an arrow, because the demons were to close to get a good shot at. She was using the arrow to stab her opponents, and, as in the vision, the tip shone with a bright light. As soon as the arrow touched a demon, the creature would disintegrate. It was quite effective, and Kagome began to believe they might get out of this situation alive.

"We have to get to the center of the village, that is were their leader is. Without it they will descend into chaos." The miko told her tensely. Kagome nodded, then, realizing her back was to the woman and she couldn't see her, spoke

"Good."

The priestess began moving through the hoard, mercilessly purifying anything in her path. She had given up holding the bow at all, it was hanging over her shoulder, and she now held two arrows. Her wrists darted about like snakes, seeking any openings and striking lightning quick, purifying the creatures so quickly that their disintegrated remains seemed to create a haze over the battle field.

The green light grew brighter and brighter the further they advanced, until the light was so bright that Kagome could see every horrifying detail of her opponents face. No longer were they half seen nightmares, now she could see them for the full blown monstrosities they were, right down to the oozing puss.

Her arms were truly beginning to ache from the abuse, and from the wake of bodies in their path, she knew she was justified. There must have been over two hundred demons lying in their path. She could do two hundred push ups easily, but she had never imagined she would be able to fight a pitched battle with an army of two. Two hundred was a hysterical number; it was like a hit counter on a video game; unrealistic. Yet here she was fighting a battle against an army of demons, and her only fellow soldier was a woman Kagome had thought was dead thirty minutes ago.

Whatever this was, be it dream, hallucination, or reality, it was the strangest thing that had ever happened to her.