Chapter 13: The Battle For Kagome

"KAGOMEEEE!"

The heavy wooden gate shattered easily before the enraged hanyou. He was through the wreckage in an instant, racing into the courtyard with his sword held high before him. The heavy scent of Kagome's blood hung thickly in the air, and it took every last ounce of self control to keep the hanyou from completely going berserk. As it was, Sango's call barely registered in his ears.

"Inuyasha, look!"

The hanyou's eyes traveled from Sango's outstretched hand to a point near the center of the courtyard. He tried to peer through the sea of stunned soldiers, but the crowd was still too thick for a clear view. He shouted up to Sango, and the taijaya quickly ordered Kilala to drop low.

Inuyasha grabbed onto Miroku's wrist and immediately found himself airborne. They flew just above the small army, which still stood paralyzed by the sudden explosion at the gate. In the middle of it all, the hanyou's eyes lighted upon an image that had recently haunted his worst nightmares.

"Miroku!" one shout was all it took for the monk to understand, and he released Inuyasha's wrist. The hanyou fell, landing lightly at the inside edge of the soldier's lines.

Yojikin stood several feet in front of him, his shaking hand pressed against Kagome's breast. As the hanyou's eyes took in the sight before him, he realized that the lord's hand wasn't just pressing on Kagome. It was tightly gripping the hilt of a dagger, buried deep in the miko's chest.

The world stood frozen for a time, as though the God's were unsure of how to break the horrific moment. Then the stillness that had gathered exploded as time resumed and Hell found its place on Earth.

The guards that had been holding Kagome drew their weapons at the sight of the hanyou, both releasing the girl and letting her fall limply to the darkened ground. Inuyasha watched as her unfocused eyes stared forward, seeing nothing as her trembling hand traced the crimson flower blossoming on her chest. The moment she touched the ground he found the bar on his self-control shattered and he flew into battle.

That same piece of time found Gishohu and his men racing onto the scene, weapons drawn and faces set for combat. They had no idea of what was happening in courtyard; only that the hanyou had set the stage and now was the time for their revenge. Yojikin's soldiers caught sight of them and, after finally regaining their composure, brought up their own weapons. Both sides charged together, and the clang of steel on steel mingled with the hanyou's enraged cry.

Gishohu's sword found its mark in his first opponent, and with a grimace he pushed the gasping body away with his foot. Blue eyes happened to glance through the space the fallen soldier had occupied, and the lord froze as he spotted the hanyou. He was flinging guards out of his way, not even bothering to use the sword gripped tightly in his hand. Twin golden eyes never left the motionless body that lay only a few feet before him.

This is why we fight, Gishohu reminded himself. Yojikin must pay for this.

Kagome drifted on the edge of consciousness. A heavy fog had settled over her mind, separating her from everything in the conscious world. She knew that she was surrounded by the sounds of battle, but to her ears it seemed miles away. Even the pain that now throbbed in her left breast seemed dim admits the fog.

She fought to remember what had happened, but the images seemed to be jumbled. She could recall a voice shouting in triumph. She could remember a flash of silver, then pain, and then….

Had she really heard him? At that last moment, before the darkness had claimed her, had she really heard Inuyasha calling her name?

It was almost too much to hope for. Despite her hardest effort, Kagome just could not recall if he had really been there, or if it was just her mind summoning one last image of the hanyou. Doubt settled in her heart, and the words that Yojikin had thrown at her time and again came rushing back. He's not coming for you! You mean nothing to him!

The words wrapped around her heart, feeding off of her deepest fear and making it real. It wasn't him…why would he come for me? I mean nothing to him.

But he promised that he would always protect me…he promised that he would always come for me…

"Kagome!"

There it was again; that sweet voice that she knew was simply her imagination. The sound echoed through her mind, forcing its way past the fog and the horrible whispers. She drank in the sound, noting that there was something there in the rich tone that she had never heard before. Was it panic?

I have to know…she fought against the fog, forcing her way through the growing darkness until she could feel the world around her again. The battle that raged around her came back in full force, and the harsh sounds and smells assaulted her senses. With the last of her strength, she forced her heavy eyes to open. I have to know…if it's really him…

The world was etched in darkness, leaving only a small tunnel of light at its center. Everything inside was blurred, but Kagome could still make out shapes and colors as they flew past her. She quickly realized that she was on her side, and that she was surrounded by people. Brown eyes sorted through the distorted mess, until they finally came to rest on a large red blur. It moved too quickly for her to follow, but she could still see the trail of silver that crowned the figure. He was screaming something….

"Kagome!"

The sound of his voice shattered the hold that Yojikin's lies held on her heart. He had come, and part of her knew that he always would. But now the darkness that crept at the edges of her vision would wait no more, and hastened to claim her. As the world faded away, she felt the hope that had steadily been trampled flare back to life within her. "Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha didn't dare think as he tore through guards. Thinking would mean admitting that Kagome was hurt- or even dead- and the hanyou refused to accept either as a possibility. So he flung men aside with a bare hand, Tetsusaiga still gripped tightly in one fist. His eyes never left Kagome as he made a path to her, and anyone who blocked his view was quickly thrown aside. It did not take the rest of the guards long to realize that they there was no stopping the hanyou, and they hastily moved on to find different opponents. With the way suddenly cleared, Inuyasha made his final push to Kagome's side-

-and was roughly intercepted by the tall form of Yojikin.

"You half-breed bastard, you ruined everything! You'll pay for what you've done to me!" the crazed lord threw himself at Inuyasha, brandishing his dagger as he charged. It was still wet with Kagome's blood.

That sight sent Inuyasha spinning completely over the edge, and without hesitation he drove Tetsusaiga home.

Yojikin halted abruptly. Both ice-blue eyes widened in shock before slowly lowering to his abdomen, where the rusty blade's hilt still protruded from the flesh. With one last look of disbelief, he collapsed.

Inuyasha did not even wait for the body to hit the ground. He skirted the falling corpse, closing the final few feet that separated him from Kagome. In his haste to pass, however, the hanyou missed the small motion as Yojikin pulled something from his robes.

"Kagome!" the sound broke in his throat as he dropped to his knees beside her. His hands were shaking badly as he gently checked her injuries, part his mind still refusing to believe that she could really be hurt. But what he found was far from that naive illusion.

Her uniform blouse was in ruins, hanging from her frail form in tatters. Through the red-stained tears wafted the stench of blood and infection, and Inuyasha wrinkled his nose as he forced his hands to part the rags. Kagome's back was a mass of red, angry welts, the torn skin held on only by dried blood. A wave of nausea rocked the hanyou, but he forced down the bile as it rose in his throat. Never before had he seen anything so cruel as this.

He forced his eyes away from the wounds, knowing instinctively that the rest of her body would show the same level of abuse. What most concerned him now was the dagger wound on her chest. Had that bastard actually pierced her heart?

Inuyasha found his answer as he repositioned himself. Ignoring the battle that raged on around him, he shifted his body so that he could clearly see the front of her. Molten eyes widened as they took in the crimson stain that was steadily covering the entire blouse. The wound was serious, but as he leaned in for a closer look, the hanyou could see that the blade had missed her heart by inches. Instead, it had penetrated her left lung. She's going to drown in her own blood….

"There's still time…" he whispered the words like a mantra, using them as a shield against that reasonable voice that insisted there was no chance for her.

"Inu-yasha?"

The half-demon's eyes shot up to her face. "I'm here, Kagome. You're gonna be all right now. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Inuyasha…Yojikin…"

"He's dead, Kagome."

"No, he- " Kagome fought against the urge to cough, but her lungs were begging for oxygen and would wait no longer. Her body rocked with the spasms, and Inuyasha could only watch helplessly until the fit subsided. Slowly her body relaxed, leaving a small trace of blood on her pale lips. "Inuyasha," she continued, her voice strained, "…he has the jewel shards!"

As though on cue, a deep, maniacal laughter drifted up from behind the pair.

When the fighting first broke out, Gishohu had attempted some sort of attack formation. But the quarters were too close for any sort of organized strategy, and the men soon split off to find their own opponents. One villager had managed to work their way into the thick of the battle, becoming completely separated from the rest of Gishohu's men. But the lone soldier paid no mind to that fact as they struggled against another of Yojikin's mercenaries.

The battle was quick, ending when the enemy soldier collapsed in an unconscious heap. Before the man went down, he managed to land a glancing blow to the villager, sending an over-sized helmet flying. Dark brown hair tumbled unnoticed down slim shoulders as the villager pushed on toward the center of the battle.

Aniko paused, along with everyone else in the courtyard. Something important had just happened, but there were still too many people milling about for Aniko to see what was going on. Without a thought she began working her way toward the center of the commotion, forgetting that her disguise had been destroyed. Suddenly, whatever was happening at the center of this mess was more important than discovery by her father.

All thoughts of being caught vanished when a rough hand grabbed her from behind.

"Hanyou, did you think that you could defeat me so easily?"

"Yojikin, you bastard!" Inuyasha spat at the lord as he placed himself between the revived man and Kagome. He wasn't going to touch her again.

Yojikin laughed; a deep, rumbling noise from within his widened chest. The Tetsusaiga was still embedded in his chest, and the hanyou watched as the once-fatal wound began to close around the sword. One glance was all it took for Inuyasha to figure out what had happened. Yojikin had used the jewel shards.

The lord barely appeared human anymore. His once-normal frame now burst with unnatural muscle, leaving his fitted robes bursting at the seams. Clawed hands clenched and flexed as he swiped at the air, testing the new power that coursed through his veins. Yojikin grinned, his already contorted face twisting into something wholly inhuman and grotesque.

"It appears as though this worthless priestess' treasure was of some use to me after all. And when her blood stains these walls, my barrier shall be restored and I shall be invincible!"

Inuyasha growled and cracked his knuckles. "Damn it, I won't let you touch her again!"

Yojikin reached a clawed hand down to grip the hilt of the Tetsusaiga, pulling the blade free in one fluid motion. "Come, little hanyou. Let me show you what it is like to be killed with your own sword!"

Inuyasha snarled. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill that cocky bastard, but…

Kagome…he turned back to the girl, amber eyes burning with concern.

"Inuyasha, look out!"

He heard Miroku's shouted warning from somewhere within the crowd and ducked instinctively, barely avoiding the sword that passed through the space his head had just occupied. "Kagome…"

"Go."

He nodded, reaching down to grasp her hand tightly. "Don't you dare die on me," was all he said to her before turning back to Yojikin.

It was time to end this.

Miroku spun back around. Inuyasha had heard his warning in time, and now he needed to return his attention to his own battle. He and Sango had joined the battle early on, opting to fight the soldiers from the ground instead of the air. Now they stood side by side, knocking men out of the way only to have one replaced by another. Kilala stood behind them, her growl alone enough to keep the men at bay and her friend's backs safe.

"Remember Sango, no matter what they have done, they are still human."

"Yeah, I know; we shouldn't kill them!" she grunted as she heaved another soldier away with her Hiriakotsu. "But at least we can knock them around a bit!"

Together they worked, side by side as they fought against the thinning ranks of soldiers. A pair of eyes watched them from across the courtyard, and suddenly Gishohu found himself envious of the monk. The feeling was fleeting as his attention was drawn back to the battle. He continued to push his way through the remaining struggling bodies, fighting for a clear view of what was happening at the center. As Gishohu threw his opponent to the ground, he paused to catch a quick breath. I really am out of shape…

Knowing that his break could not last, Gishohu readied his sword and prepared to take on another enemy. He scanned the crowd, looking through the villagers and his brother's soldiers for a good place to jump back in. Blue eyes searched the melee, stopping abruptly as a wisp of long, dark brown hair caught his attention.

"Aniko? Aniko!"

He was both furious and frightened all at once. How could she? he thought as he pushed through the battle. How could she disobey him like that? Gishohu reached the spot where he had last seen his daughter, but there was no sign of the delinquent girl.

Shouting rose from off to the lord's right, and he whipped his head around to find the source. There in the center of the courtyard stood his brother, or something that looked like him. His gaze slid reluctantly from his monstrous brother, freezing instead on the object of his kin's attention.

An instant later, Gishohu's heart stopped beating.

A/N: Oh no! What's gonna happen to Kagome? Well, tune in for the next chapter when everything that hasn't hit the fan finally does!