XXI

Caedite Eos

For many days, they have been waiting; watching. In ones and twos their presence was not noticeable - no more than a shallow disturbance of youki to be attributed to any one of a thousand things. The beat of their wings is no louder than the beat of many birds; the scent of them, though unfamiliar, is not necessarily a threat and attracts no attention.

Wild caws and cackles full of dark intention and wicked messages might have set up an alert among the wolves that traversed the wild borders of the pack's lands, but there had been devastation and the promise of death to distract the guards from their normal watchfulness. The ones who threatened the Pack were harpies, abysmal creatures that carried a sewer stench and the terrible form of grinning, half-bodied birds from which erupt goblin-faced torsos. They screech and dive and wail now that they are approaching in force; they are no longer concerned with secrecy.

They intend to take these mountains for their own.

They think of the wolves as little more than livestock, food to stuff against the suffering of an insatiable hunger. While they wait for their leader, they fought among each other, males and females beating with their great wings, biting and clawing and setting the air and trees aflame with ghastly powers.

The leader descends from above and silences all the others with a single shriek and a malodorous wave. Carrion odor sends even his own kind reeling backwards - or is he, they? The leader is the Twins, Jigoku and Jaaku, and they are the darkness and the fire and all the promise of terrible things that is in their names. They speak not with one voice, but with one purpose;two brains, two powers, two youkai fused into one grinning, grotesque parody of something avian below the waist. They are the most dangerous and cunning of their kind, and now...now, they are empowered.

Now, they have the shikon no tama to fuel all the furor of their rage, all the carnage of their lust. They possess only a single shard, but it is more than enough to treble the danger of their presence – more than enough to make them think themselves invincible, even though they recognize the enormous presence of the Wolf Alpha.

It is Jaaku who speaks, words to beget war.

"Take the mountain! Claim the high stone peaks where the wolves cannot go and kill them all. Kill them all!"

There is a great roar of acclamation.

On the other side of the mountain the harpies are stealing for themselves, Kouga stirs in his doze beside Kagome, and pricks his ears to the sound of trouble, but they are faint and far away and he does not trouble himself

Faintly, in dreams influenced by a power she has barely begun to know, Kagome senses wings, dozens of wings, beating their way closer. They frighten her, and fear startles her out of her dreams. She moves to sit up, her heart beating wildly, but something heavy is pressing down across her hip, and something lighter but still a warm, fuzzy weight covers her, presses against her, touches even her cheek.

Carefully, oh so carefully, Kagome blinks and turns her head to the side, and as she does so two things become clear. One is Kouga's face, relaxed in sleep; the other is a pair of black, gleaming eyes, and a wet nose that pushes itself into her ear and then snuffles against her cheek and then goes back to her ear again.

"Well hello, little one -"

And then she realizes what the weight over her is – why it so much warmer and fuzzier than the blanket Kouga had covered her with on his way out.

Pups.

She is covered in pups.

As she moves, some of them wake, yawning, and blink their bright eyes at her, tongues lolling and pink as they pant and press closer.

They're cute, but her dream is danger and disturbance to her still, and she is grateful when she feels Kouga shift wakefully behind her and reach out to stroke the hair away from her face.

"You're awake, Kagome – but it hasn't been very long."

"I know, I – I had a bad dream."

And then she turns to look at the door, feels muscles in her body tightening and responding to the inner adrenaline surge – fight or flight. Risk or rescue.

"Kouga, I think something terrible is going to happen."

He nuzzles her cheek.

"If it does, I'll protect you, Kagome."

"But Kouga – who's going to protect you?"

He stares at her startled for a long moment and then shrugs and allows his features to relax into their usual grin.

"Protect me? I don't need protecting, Kagome! Don't worry – don't worry about me."

His casual dismissal of her concern does not reassure her. She feels...she feels...a tingle. Something familiar...coming closer. Coming closer very fast and bringing terror with it.

Something is coming -

A/N: A bit later than I expected but terrible political rampaging things happened and so I was...distracted. In any event, a chapter; those who are interested in said political rampaging (human rights are important) may check my blog, link available in my profile...and...onward? Today's chapter title, Caedite Eos translates to "kill them all" - one again, for obvious reasons. The names I chose for the leader(s) of the harpies translate to "hell" (Jigoku) and "wickedness" (Jaaku). Enjoy, my dears...more after I have slept!

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