.:Curse of Dragons:.
.:By: Maiden of the Seven Stars:.
.:Chapter 14: End of Dragons:.
She could not believe it would end this way, with Kikyo winning, but right now it was hard to even think straight. There was a horrible pain in her leg, where Kikyo had cut out the jewel shards. She had done it quickly, and then sealed the wound, but it still hurt beyond belief.
Even though black fuzzed at the edges of her vision, but she could still see. Kikyo was standing at the alter, the jewel in her hands. The three shards she had pulled from Kagome's leg fusing into the jewel, to make it whole once more.
The priestess smiled as she saw Kagome's horrified glare, and wondered how the wench could still remain so defiant.
"You're clutching at straws, girl, nobody can stop me." She sneered, and the jewel glowed with a tainted aura.
"It's not midnight yet!" Kagome snapped in return, but the hope in the words was futile. Midnight may not be here yet, but it would come, and when it came nothing would stop the end… unless.
Her feet were unbound, and so were her wrists. Suddenly a plan formed in her head and she reached behind her, thanking Sango for teaching her how to untie a multitude of knots. She only needed a few more moments and—
"What are you doing, wench?" Kikyo cried, raising the jewel, but Kagome was free.
At once she pulled out the arrow she had hidden under her kimono and pointed it at her neck, smirking.
"If you dare…" she started, threateningly, knowing she had the upper hand, but Kikyo simply laughed.
A colder, crueler laugh joined hers. The tapestry behind the throne parted, and suddenly Naraku was in the room as well. He was wearing the white baboon's skin pelt, its masked head draped over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed menacingly.
"Dear, you're sadly mistaken." Kikyo laughed.
"Even if you did kill yourself, I will finish what Kikyo started." Naraku sneered, sliding into the throne's lavish cushioning.
Kagome refused to be shaken, instead taking the arrow and pointing it towards the evil pair. A pink-violet glow sprang from its tip.
"Then I'll burn this place down, and the Jewel with it!" she declared, but the two were laughing again.
"You will use my own power against me?" Kikyo asked, "Clever, but you arenothing but a fool. You may have my power, but I hold the Shikon no Tama. Give it up, it is hopeless."
The glow around the arrow died, as she comprehended the situation. There was no way out, Kikyo was going win.
"It is nearly time." Naraku hissed, waving an arm leisurely. A barrier sprang up between the two opposing women, and Kikyo turned back to the alter, replacing the Jewel in it's dish. Leaning to each side, she blew out the candles, and darkness fell on them all.
This cannot be, this cannot be! Kagome cried in her mind, staring up at the dark sky. I will not let this happen, there has to be a way!
"Inuyasha!" she cried, as a last resort, and suddenly the room wasn't so dark anymore.
A faint silver glow was pulsing under her robe. The two evildoers stared as Kagome pulled out the dragon's scale that hung around her neck. Its silver hue had faded to black, but it still glowed with silver light, like a beacon of hope, and suddenly she had faith again.
"This isn't over, you will never win!" She cried, defiantly, and the glowing silver shape of a dragon swooped overhead. A mighty roar echoed through the night, a battle cry; a summons.
"Fool, he cannot penetrate these walls! They are dragon proofed." Kikyo snapped, unruffled.
"Inuyasha is no dragon!"Kagome snapped, and Inuyasha roared again. His glow disappeared for a moment, and then grew in strength as the dragon smashed into the roof of the building. The stone creaked mightily and then collapsed, and the dragon fell into the room, snarling.
He was black, like he should be at this time, but his scales were rimmed with a silver glow. He landed just behind her, his forepaws spread at each side. His neck whipped above her, fangs bared in malice. She looked into his eyes; they were amber.
'The Taijiya come…' Inuyasha rumbled, his voice barely discernable, as if speaking normally took an effort.
"It's too late." Naraku sneered, as if amused by a little girl and her pet. "Midnight strikes."
Outside a guard called midnight, and the alter suddenly crackled with power. The jewel was glowing with a horrible, tainted aura, and Naraku laughed.
Inuyasha lunged at them, but his forepaws were stopped short by Naraku's barrier. He thrashed for a moment and met Kikyo's eyes. She smirked back at him, and he roared with fury and betrayal.
'Kikyo!' he screamed, lashing at the barrier
"Inuyasha, we have to go!" Kagome cried, ignoring the pain in her leg and grabbing at Inuyasha's flapping wings. He turned to her, anger and pain in his eyes, but there was intelligence there. He snapped down at her, annoyed, and continued to thrash at the barrier.
"Inuyasha!" she cried again, and Naraku chuckled. Again the dragon's head turned towards her, and his voice rumbled irritably.
'Where would we run?' he asked, detestably, and threw himself at the barrier again. He was right, of course. There was no place to run, no place to hide. If they didn't stop Kikyo now, there would never be another chance.
"Move over!" she cried, pushing the scaled shoulder out of her way. The dragon obliged, revealing Kikyo and Naraku. Naraku still sat at the throne, but Kikyo knelt before the alter. The jewel was glowing, and as she watched it sent a beacon of purple light up to the heavens. The window above them, still intact, acted like a magnifying glass, sending the purple light upwards even stronger than before.
Clouds gathered above them, dark clouds lit only with the Jewel's purple light. Malicious lightning began to flash, and thunder rumbled overhead. Rain was coming, but something told her the rain was not going to be good.
"Stop it! You can still stop it!" She pleaded in desperation, and Kikyo turned back to look at her.
"You were good once, Kikyo, I know you were!" She cried, and for a moment Kikyo's cold brown eyes faltered. She turned back to the jewel, hiding her face for a moment, and Inuyasha roared.
'Kikyo!' he cried again, his voice betraying the love he had for her, love that flowed unconditionally, love that could never change, no matter what evil Kikyo might do.
Kagome stared at him and saw the devotion in his eyes. He still loved her, after all she had done to him, and Kikyo was going to throw it all away? She was blessed to have someone who loved her like Inuyasha, someone who had faith in her, even though it hurt him horribly.
But Kikyo did not realize the value of what she was throwing away, because she turned, her eyes glaring and her lips twisted in a horrible smirk.
"Pitiful, in the face of your destruction that is all you can rally?" she scoffed, and turned away.
Inuyasha cried out in heartbreak, and anger surged through Kagome's veins. Kikyo had thrown it all away! What sort of heartless, cruel, beast would do that? She raised the arrow she had been clutching and concentrated her fury into it, driving the tip into Naraku's barrier with bone crushing force.
A pinkish crack appeared on the surface, and she drove the arrow down again, and again. On the fourth try the barrier cracked, and she fell forwards. She was on her feet at once, grappling at the alter. The jewel's dark beacon had stopped, but that could not be good. Dodging Kikyo's rising frame, she snatched the jewel and went sprawling, Inuyasha right behind her.
The dragon roared, smashing the remains of the barrier, and launched himself at Naraku. Surprised, but not helpless, the demon lord uttered an incantation. At once his incarnations were at his side. Kagura waved her fan, and Inuyasha snarled as the sudden gust of wind tried to blow him backwards. His wings furled quickly and he lunged forwards, snapping the fan up in his jaws, destroying the incarnation's weapon.
He struck for the little girl, Kanna, next, but her mirror was ready. His claws struck against the glass, and Inuyasha cried out in pain, backing away. The silver glow was dimming slightly, and his eyes darkened.
Kagome lunged at the girl, knowing what the mirror could do. Kanna turned, but Kagome thrust the arrow before her. A crack formed in the mirror, and she saw her reflection split. Kanna gasped, staring down at her broken weapon. Kagome drove the arrow into her shoulder.
At once the girl lit up in Sacred Fire, but she neither screamed nor reacted. She and everyone else watched as the fire spread to the floor, and crept along to the walls.
'Kagome!' Inuyasha growled, staggering forwards. One of his forepaws was held off the ground and he was limping. She ran towards him, quickly bounding onto his back. Inuyasha spread his wings and leapt into the air, dodging the flames neatly, and in a moment he was in the sky again.
Naraku also rose from the flames, sitting behind Kagura on a massive feather. His baboon skin pelt was draped around him, and his perpetual sneer was still on his face. There was an ethereal shriek and three soul collectors also emerged from the fire, Kikyo entwined between them. She was too calm, too pleased.
The attitude unnerved Kagome, but before she could say anything Inuyasha cried out, swerving dangerously. She glanced to the right, just in time to see a few arrows fly up through the membrane of the dragon's wing, and the silver glow around Inuyasha's scales began to dim again. The dragon shrieked, his intelligence waning, and arrows flew up again. They bounced off his chest and scales, but punctured the membrane of his wings. Unable to fly, the dragon fell to the earth, right into the waiting ranks of guards.
They were on them at once, swords drawn, arrows knocked and firing. Somehow she fell from his back, rolling onto the ground, and he was above her, pinning her beneath him protectively. The dragon scale around her neck flew off its string. There was only the faintest silver gleam on it. Inuyasha was succumbing to the new moon and the pain of being the only thing that protected her from the attack.
She curled up into a ball as Inuyasha flailed above her, and heard the pitter patter of rain on his scales. Glancing up, past the black belly, she cried out as she saw the blood red drops of rain falling from the sky. It was raining like this over the entire empire, and the sky filled with cries of pain.
Inuyasha screamed and the guards around them fell to the ground, clutching at themselves in pain. They were changing; their flesh hardening, and extra lumps were forming around them. They were turning into dragons.
Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and her hand clutched at Kikyo's arrow. The jewel pressed into her other hand, and she glanced down at it. She had power in her hand; she had a means to fight this evil. Closing her eyes, she made her wish.
"Please, let this end!" she cried, and the jewel glowed in her hands, but not with the dark, tainted aura. Its aura was pink and pure, and suddenly she knew what she must do.
Crawling to her knees, she held the arrow and jewel together, trying to find a way to bind them. Desperate, she grabbed Inuyasha's scale. It was slightly rounded, and there was still a hollow where twine had been looped. She pushed the jewel into the scale, grabbing the dangling twine and wrapping it tightly around the arrow. It glowed in her hands, with pink violet light.
Above her, Inuyasha still roared, but he was fading as well, succumbing to the rain, but she couldn't worry about the rain now, she needed a bow.
"Inuyasha! Move!" she called to him, and with the last scrap of humanity in his dragon shell, he obliged, collapsing to the side.
At once the rain fell on her, thick and burning where it hit her skin. She screamed with pain, feeling herself change under its power, but she wasn't through yet.
Staggering forwards, she made her way to one of the guards, snatching the bow he had dropped. With all the strength left in her, she lifted the bow, knocked the arrow, and drew back the string. Her feet refused to support her, so she fell backwards onto something warm. Inuyasha's shoulder was somehow under her and the great black dragon lay behind her.
Thankful, she lifted the bow upwards. She aimed high, pulling the string back as far as it would go, ignoring the pain that filled her body.
"End this." She whispered to the jewel, and released the string.
Arrow, jewel, and dragon scale flew from her bow, three different auras rising into the darkening sky. Sacred power, pulsing blue and violet, weaved in between the pink aura of the jewel, and the silver glow of the dragon's scale. Tracing a line across the sky, the weapon disappeared into the clouds.
A moment later, a great flash of light lit the earth again, and she slumped back, sliding down Inuyasha's neck and leaning her head against his muzzle. She glanced towards him, looking away from the light, and she saw him looking back ather with eyes that glowed gold.
She heard the crashing of thunder and glanced up again, watching as bright pink streaks of lightning raced down towards Naraku and Kikyo. The demon lord's scream was cut off as the lightning struck him, but as the second strike flew for Kikyo she willed it away. Inuyasha still loved her, no matter what she did. He would be hurt again with her death, and she refused to let Kikyo hurt him. The strike went wide, but it's aftershock still caught the priestess and sent her crashing to the ground.
A moment later the light was gone, but the rain was still falling. The pain was gone, however, and as she looked up the rain that fell was clear, warm liquid. In every drop, there was a glimmer of silver, pink, and violet-blue.
The cries of the guards around her faded, and Inuyasha's painful trembling died down. Was it over? She didn't know, but suddenly she was drained, all of her energy having been poured into that final blast. Her eyelids drooped, and her vision blurred, and she relished the warmth of the purifying rain.
She leaned back against Inuyasha's neck, but the scales were no longer there. Instead, two strong hands caught her shoulders, two arms wrapping around her, cradling her. She recognized the familiar smell of musk; it was Inuyasha's scent.
"Inuyasha?" she asked, looking up. There was a face above her, a strange face mirrored with silver hair. It belonged to a man, a man dressed in red clothes of very fine material. Her eyes met his golden ones, and she knew in whose arms she lay.
"It's over," Inuyasha whispered, hugging her to him as she fell away into unconsciousness.
"You did it Kagome." The half-demon murmured. "This is the end, the end of dragons."
A/N: Apologies for the long wait, it took quite some time to get this right. However, it's not over yet. What will become of Naraku's empire? What will happen to the Taijiya? What will be done about Kikyo?
They 'needed' plans for the Taijiya, plans for the palace, plans for an emperor, plans for the empire, what next? Were they going to discuss plans for outhouses?
"No… It can't be… It wasn't supposed to end this way!" he moaned,
'Goodbye…' she whispered before she was pulled into oblivion